The Lives We Choose
by Mo-Mantai
Summary: Tai and Mimi meet ten years after 02 and Tai is shocked with the cards that fate has dealt his friend. Has some sexual references, so be warned!


**The Lives We Choose**

It has been a really long time since the whole gang has been together in the Digital World. Everybody has grown up and along with growing up came growing apart. I haven't seen any of my old friends for years. It's kind of sad, but at the same time it has allowed me to make new friends and to get on with my life. Can you believe that I, Taichi Kamiya am in my fourth year of university? Just in case you were wondering, that makes me twenty-three years old. I'm still just as good looking as I was ten years ago, but a whole lot smarter. Do you want to know what I'm studying? You won't believe it if I tell you. I am going to be a lawyer!  
So, as you know, a law student has to work extremely hard. It is a very stressful career to get into, so in order to relieve some of that tension, a few of my friends and I had decided to got on a road trip to New York City for a few days. By the way, I go to a prestigious school in America, not far from the Big Apple.  
Anyway, so we decided to go on a trip to New York and much to my disapproval (yeah right! I haven't changed that much!) my friends decided that it would be fun to get completely tanked at a local strip club. We all were in agreement that it was a good a good idea, so we loaded into the car and drove down to the most popular place in town, "Knockers-Ville Tennessee."  
"This is going to be great!" my friend Billy exclaimed as we entered the club. He was a real horny bastard and I knew that he would get his jollies tonight.  
A waitress lead us to a table for four and took our drink orders. I ordered a beer and then sat back and surveyed my surroundings. I had been to a few of these places in my lifetime, but this one was a real dump.  
"We want a show!" Billy was chanting.  
"My God! He isn't even drunk yet!" I whispered to Chris, my roommate.  
"You ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait 'til he actually does have a few drinks in him." Chris replied.  
"Can't wait!" I laughed, as I watched Billy, who was now chanting on top of the table.  
"Does he get out much?" the waitress asked my when she returned from the bar with our drinks.  
"We're law students. We never get out." the last member of the group, Todd, finally spoke up.  
"Ah, I see! Well, enjoy the show fellas!" she said, before she walked over to the next table.  
As soon as she said the words 'enjoy the show' it started. Girls with hardly nothing on to begin with, burst out of the curtain on the stage and began dancing. I could almost picture the dicks of every guy in the place go up as soon as the first girl took off her bra and exposed her breasts. I have to admit that I had followed suit until I realized who that girl was.  
"Mimi!" I gasped and then averted my eyes. There was no way I could sit and watch while my childhood friend took her clothes off for money.  
The other guys didn't seem to mind that I knew the girl that they were throwing money at. They just continued staring at her like she was a piece of meat.  
"I have to get out of here guys. I'm not feeling so well. I'll be back in a little while." I told my friends.  
"Are you alright Tai?" Chris asked.  
"Um, yeah... I just have to get some air!" I told him  
"Suit yourself!" he shrugged, before turning back to the naked Mimi dancing on the stage.  
  


***

  
I didn't know exactly where I was going. I didn't even know my way around New York at all, so instead of walking, I decided to sit by the backstage door and wait for Mimi to come out after the show. I had to know what would make her stoop to such a low level. It just wasn't like the Mimi that I knew at all.  
I sat there for an our and a half until Mimi finally came out carrying a gym bag and counting a wad of cash in her hand.  
"Mimi?" I called to her and then climbed to my feet.  
"Tai?" she gasped when she saw me. "What the heck are you doing here? How have you been?" she asked, wrapping her arms around my neck in a warm embrace. I hugged back, but then had to pull away.  
"My friends and I decided to go on a road trip and we ended up here. I'm a law student and I needed a break from studying, but then I saw you up on that stage and I had to leave. What are you doing Mimi?" I asked.  
"Making money Tai! What does it look like?" she snapped.  
"Whoa, calm down Meems! I just meant that I never pictured you in this type of work." I told her.  
"I don't have a choice Tai!" she whispered.  
"What do you mean that you don't have a choice. You can only be living the life that you chose for yourself." I replied.  
"I mean that this is the only way that I can make money and this is the only time that I can do it!" Mimi said.  
"I don't understand Mimi." I whispered.  
"I have a baby Tai, a cute little five year old!" Mimi told me.  
"You what, but how?" I stuttered.  
"You're twenty-three years old Tai. I would have thought that you already knew about the birds and the bees!" she said, sarcastically.  
"You know what I mean. You're twenty-three too and you already have a five year old. You're a stripper for God sake! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled.  
"What would you do in my situation Tai? Yeah, I have a five year old son who waits for me to come home everyday so that he can have something to eat. His father left me right after I told him that I was pregnant and this is the only thing I can do for money." Mimi sobbed.  
"Why don't you ask your parents for help?" I asked.  
"Because they think the same way that you do! It's the life that I chose for myself and now I have to live with it! So, here I am living the life that I chose!" she replied.  
"I don't know what to say Mimi." I sighed.  
"You don't have to say anything Tai." she told me.  
"But I feel like I have to help you. You're my friend Mimi and I don't want to see you degrade yourself like this!" I said.  
"Tai, I like this life." she insisted.  
"No you're not." I told her.  
"Okay, maybe I'm not Tai, maybe you're right, but you can't do anything about it! You chose to be a lawyer and I chose to be a mother and a stripper! It may not be the life that you would have chosen for me, but it is the one that I chose for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a son to get home to." she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.  
"Goodbye Mimi." I whispered.  
"Goodbye Taichi. Good luck in all your endeavours." she said, before she walked away from Me. I stood and watched until she strolled out of sight.  
"Goodbye Mimi. You too." I whispered, before deciding to go back and find my friends. I may not have been happy with the way that Mimi was living, but she has followed her own path and I had followed mine. Where we end up in the end is totally up to us. It all depends on the lives we choose.  
  
**THE END  
~MPF**  
  



End file.
